Adam Evarts

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Longtime NASCAR Geek. Sports fan.

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The Chase Leaves More to be Desired

The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series, O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, and Craftsman Truck Series seasons came to a close this past weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. With it also came the first season of this rendition of The Chase, and with it, perhaps leaving more to be desired. For starters, The Chase did its job that it was pegged to do. It prevented drivers from seemingly “backing” their way into a championship or contending for a championship when they otherwise wouldn’t be close. However, the ending of two of the championship races felt very, as Kyle Larson put it, “anti-climactic.” The Craftsman Truck Series race on Friday night was all but over at lap 15 when Layne Riggs cut down a right rear tire. A subsequent tire failure later would ensure Kaden Honeycutt’s title. In the Cup Series the championship was decided as stage one came to a close. Kyle Larson’s fourth place finish in stage one ended things almost before many fans got comfortable. The only race of the weekend that produced an interesting title fight was the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series as Justin Allgaier held off all challengers to win his second championship of his career. As a fan who grew up when it was a season long points battle and seeing my fair share of seasons decided before the last race of the season, this was a harkening back to that era with the Trucks and Cup Series. However, the excitement surrounding the cutoff races and the final four were gone. I get the argument for a longer points battle and that the playoffs seem like manufactured drama. However, I will be one to point out that the playoffs made every race matter. Not that this weekend’s races didn’t matter, but the Cup championship was all but sewn up after Martinsville. Heck after Larson’s win at Talladega, it seemed his lead was insurmountable then. The high-stakes drama and strategy made for must see tv and must listen to radio every week. When most of us think of Ross Chastain, we think of watermelons and the Hail Melon at Martinsville, which wouldn’t have happened had the playoffs not been around. Kyle Busch’s epic 2015 comeback doesn’t happen without the playoffs. Ryan Newman’s bid for a championship allowed him to go for broke at Phoenix in 2014 racing for 11th. Aside from the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Chase, which saw the points lead change four times over the course of their Chase, both the Cup Series and Truck Series saw the points lead change once a peace in their Chase. While not an advocate for the one-race, best finisher takes all approach that was here before. There needs to be a little added drama to the season. The In-Season Challenge has kind of helped that along in a way to replace the old Winston Million and No Bull Challenges that were mainstays of the 80s, 90s and even early 2000s. And the Trucks had the Triple Truck Challenge and there was the Dash 4 Cash in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series for a while. While I will still watch all the races of the top three divisions, at the end of the day it feels unfair to the tracks and fans at those tracks later in the season when the championship races have all but wrapped. Many teams and drivers don’t try as hard when it is the last race or two in the season. The sport as a whole is better when all the races matter, instead of all but one.Nov 10, 2026

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